When the show invited me to come to San Jose for an interview, I reached out to Diego and asked if I could bring the trumpet. For this type of show, I knew I needed a good visual. I was thrilled when Diego said yes and grateful that he entrusted me with it. I also brought a signed Magician Among the Spirits and a program from Houdini's spiritualism lecture. But, as expected, the trumpet is what they really flipped for, especially Zak Bagans. For that one night, it was the star of the show!
I should clarify that this isn't the only Houdini spirit trumpet out there. Roger Dreyer's Houdini Revealed museum has a trumpet that best matches some Houdini photos. Fred Pittella has a Houdini trumpet the size of a person. Brandon Hodge has what he believes to be the Benninghofen trumpet. But Diego's trumpet has excellent provenance and shows the ravages of use. And what I said during the show is true. It has never been shown before. So I'm happy to have brought it into the light (so to speak).
As for the episode itself, I thought it was bonkers and an absolute blast! Our great friend George Hardeen was magnificent. I loved it when he said Houdini has been present at every seance; we've just been unable to perceive him. I also loved that they visited Houdini locations in San Francisco to collect "energetic trigger objects." And that photo from the seance and those voices they captured are pretty freaky! They know what they're doing as paranormal investigators and as showmen. Where the line is, I'm not sure. But it's great television.
However, I cringed when I heard myself say, "He was a believer in Spiritualism.” I think what I said was, "He was a believer in Spiritualism in his youth.” Because that is true. It's also true that Houdini always believed in the possibility of spirit communication, although he was very skeptical of people who called themselves mediums and the Spiritualist movement. Sorry Harry.
One thing that didn't make the cut is when we left the "Witches Cap," we became lost in the tangled maze of the house. Nothing to do with ghosts, but it was awesome. It was also near midnight, the very time Houdini himself visited the house.
I tried hard to get the Official Houdini Seance to bring their 2024 seance to Winchester Mystery House to mark the 100th anniversary of Houdini's visit. That didn't work out. So I'm happy to have had an amazing anniversary experience in the house, and I thank Zak Bagans and the Ghost Adventures team for providing that experience. And, of course, a huge thank you to Diego Domingo for allowing me to bring his incredible Houdini spirit trumpet along for the ride!
Want more? I've uploaded several high-resolution photos of Diego's Houdini spirit trumpet to my Patreon. You can also see photos of the Winchester Mystery Houses' own Houdini relics.
Related:
Nice photo of Zak giving John the Vulcan neck pinch!
ReplyDelete🖖🏻 - Abby Martin
DeleteHonestly, I had no idea at the time how famous Zak and this show were. I really want to visit Zak's Las Vegas museum. He has a Houdini seance room there, and I'm hoping that photo is now part of the display.
DeleteYou can watch the episode on demand here: https://go.discovery.com/video/ghost-adventures-travel-channel/the-houdini-seance
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link!
DeleteIt’s not working for me. It says page not found - Abby Martin
Deletei just watched the episode and i loved it! got so excited when you showed up haha. awesome artifact!!
ReplyDeleteI was excited too. I didn't know if I had made the cut!
DeleteSeeing you and George Hardeen in the program gave it more foundation. Your appearances made the program.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think George was amazing. It's a shame we weren't there together. They invited me to stay over for the seance, but I had a new kitten and I needed to get home to him. So it was a quick overnight trip for me.
DeleteThe Robert Lund collection at the American Museum of Magic also has a collapsible three-piece trumpet that we understand Houdini used.
ReplyDeleteThe “anonymous” comment re Robert Lund is from John Sherwood.
DeleteHi John. I almost named that one, but I wasn't sure if it was associated with Houdini, so thanks for letting me know. Do you know where that came from?
DeleteWow make up does wonders…..haha
ReplyDeleteIt was great how often do you get a Houdini show on!
Haha. I was makeup-free. I wish these shows would put a little powder on me to make me look less ghastly. They rarely do. You just sit down and go!
DeleteExcuse the novice question, but did mediums use the trumpets to talk through, to sound ghostly, or did they just hurl them around a cabinet, along with the occasional tambourine? What was the significance of the trumpet? I love that the trumpet seems to have lived a tough life, with its dents and crinkles.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the trumpet was to audify/amplify a spirit's voice so others in the seance room could hear the departed, just as those who were hard of hearing held a trumpet to their ear to better hear those around them.
ReplyDeleteSo the voices were supposed to be from the spirit itself (not the medium) to the trumpet to the seance sitter's in the room.
It was supposed to be the spirits that would lift/levitate the trumpet off the table, so it would float in the air....sometimes the spirit would put the trumpet back on the table and sometimes when the spirits quickly departed, it caused the trumpet to fall to the floor.
The condition of the trumpet is exactly how I received it in 1970....then kept in storage and then to John to take to The Winchester House....so very few have seen/held it.
Diego Domingo